Warren Buffett’s Son Takes Massive Action To Secure the Border

Warren Buffett’s son may want to look out for #TheResistance. The reason? He thinks the southern border ought to be secured.

Howard G. Buffett is the eldest son of the so-called Oracle of Omaha. The 64-year-old billionaire lives close to the border on a ranch in Arizona, less than 300 yards from Mexico, according to Fox News.

That’s part of why he’s given up to $30 million so far to organizations like the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.

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Every magnate has their own pet causes and nobody really seems to bat an eye, even if it’s political in nature. This one, not so much. Take a report on Buffett’s donations by the liberal alternative newspaper Phoenix New Times.

The title? “Border Cowboys: Howard Buffett Is a Perfect Fit With Cochise County’s Legacy of Vigilantism.”

“It’s probably no accident that Howard G. Buffett chose Cochise County as the setting for his border-enforcement efforts,” the report read. “The place shares 83 miles of international border with Mexico and has long been at the heart of the nation’s border-vigilantism and anti-immigrant movements.”

Apparently, securing the border involves “vigilantism” and “anti-immigrant movements.” Making this argument is actually much longer than you might expect, centering on Buffett’s relationship with a number of groups deemed to be “far-right.” (The writer calls the American Center for Law and Justice “far-right,” so take this all as you will.)

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So, what kind of horrors has the $30 million from Buffett wrought at the southern border? Well, as Fox News reports, “much of that money has been used to jump-start an investigative unit into human and drug smuggling, renovate one jail, build law enforcement training facilities, including a shooting range, arm officers, purchase surveillance equipment and even provide the sheriff’s office with at least three helicopters.”

Horrifying stuff. Very far-right.

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Buffett has also been named a special deputy by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office after a $1 million gift. His involvement doesn’t end there, however.

He’s also a member of the Cochise County Sheriff’s Assist Team, a volunteer group which “is said to provide security and intelligence.” He’s the main source of funding for the group, as well.

“To date, he has provided the organization with hundreds of thousands of dollars, largely for vehicles and equipment,” the Phoenix New Times reported with all due horror.

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“In the first year of this support alone, Buffett provided SAT with two law-enforcement-equipped Chevy Tahoes, 16 sets of body armor, 14 Colt .45-caliber semi-automatic pistols, two Colt AR-15 assault rifles, extra magazines, several thousand rounds of ammunition, and a $22,150 gas allowance for 50,000 miles’ worth of ‘increase in Patrolling across County (sic),’ according to CCSO records.

“All of these items were purchased for SAT by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office, using funding supplied by Buffett. But, according to CCSO Public Information Officer Carol Capas, SAT members are ‘undeputized volunteers’ with no law-enforcement powers.”

“For example, being in a most remote or rural part of Cochise County, and in the nighttime, and if they were out of their vehicle for any reason, and let’s just say, a wild animal attacked them, or et cetera — those types of things,” she told the New Times.

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There’s no actual evidence that these weapons have been trained upon anything but wild animals. In fact, they haven’t been trained upon anything at all, given that the members of the Sheriff’s Assist Team failed to meet certain qualifications to carry the weapons. There’s also no evidence that the SAT has engaged in any untoward actions, but hey, it sounds scary enough.

Buffett has been involved in traffic stops and patrols, however. And his efforts aren’t just focused in Cochise County.

“The Howard G. Buffett Foundation in Decatur, Illinois, has gifted funds not only to local authorities in Arizona, but also the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, where he was also named ‘Civilian Undersheriff’ in 2014, and helped to fund another law enforcement training facility in Macon County, according to the report.”

Both Buffett nor Cochise County declined to comment on the reports. However, from the sound of things, the son of one of America’s most famous investors is making a stand for border security and has been for some time. That’s going to get him a lot of hate, but it ought to get him a lot of praise, too.

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between America and Southeast Asia. He became a staunch right-winger at the age of three: While watching a clip of Ronald Reagan, he told his mother (to her great horror), "Mom, I'm a Republican." Except for a brief, scarring and inexplicable late high-school dalliance with Ralph Nader and his ilk, he's never looked back.
Aside from politics, he enjoys literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, jazz, spending time with his wife, drinking coffee and watching Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties). He is the proud owner of a very lazy West Highland white terrier and an extraordinary troublesome poodle mix of indeterminate provenance. His proudest accomplishments include reading the entirety of Thomas Pynchon's published oeuvre.